President Adar with his counsel Count Baltar (John Colicos) are with the fleet preparing to sign a peace treaty with the Cylon Alliance. Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch) is out on patrol with his green younger brother Zac in place of Lieutenant Starbuck (Dirk Benedict). They are ambushed by Cylon fighters. With signals jammed and treacherous advise from the traitor Baltar, the President orders the fleet to stand down. Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) nevertheless orders a battle drill. When the fleet is attacked, his Battlestar Galactica is the sole survivor. Meanwhile, the twelve colonies are devastated by a Cylon sneak attack. Adama gathers a fleet of survivors to journey to the legendary thirteenth colony Earth of unknown location.Coming one year after Star Wars, there were some complaints of copying and even a lawsuit or two. This is certainly inferior to Star Wars and there are elements copied from the movie. However, it's also undeniable this is one of the best TV sci-fi series of that era. It's also not a complete copy. There are plenty of compelling original ideas such as the twelve colonies, the designs from the spacecrafts to the Egyptian-like helmets, and also the music. Some of it seems cheesy compared to modern TV. The writing can be melodramatic but it must be compared to writing during that time. The Battlestar Galactica series is an important sign post for the sci-fi genre on TV despite its later deterioration. This pilot movie is a great setup for that series.

This theatrically released version of the pilot episode is light years (or is that light yahrens?) ahead of its TV contemporaries in terms of special f/x and production values. With a few exceptions, the f/x work here is fantastic. In a couple of cases it's better than 'Star Wars', the success of which made 'Galactica' possible. It should come as no surprise that Academy award winning f/x man John Dykstra, who was partly responsible for the groundbreaking work in 'Star Wars', was in charge of the f/x work here, as were several members of his ILM crew. Another 'Star Wars' alum, concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, filled a similar role for 'BSG', but while the ships may share a similar aesthetic (particularly the X-Wing and the Colonial Viper), I'd say they're ('SW' and 'BSG') more like second cousins than siblings.The plot is a sort of mish-mash of Mormon theology, the Holocaust, classic space opera and wagon train in space, and it works quite well. It's always tougher to world build in a film than it is in a book, but BSG does a reasonably good job of distilling its backstory down so that you get the gist without things having to grind to a halt for dull expository reasons. The characters are pretty stock, but the cast do a fine job of inhabiting them such that they feel real. Lorne Greene in particular adds a real gravitas to things as the Galactica's stoic leader. I actually think he's the linchpin to the whole thing. Just when things threaten to go off into the ridiculous (Like Starbuck trying to make a quick buck off of a four eyed, double mouthed Motown-style female singing group), here comes Mr. Greene to bring things back in line.The actual series itself was, like most such genre TV of its day, often hit or miss, but this opening movie is a fun, occasionally compelling, bit of Saturday morning space opera.

Although it is a little bit of a dated script and obviously copies off of Star Wars (don't those starfighters look an awful lot like X-wings), Battlestar Gallactica is worth a watch if you're a science fiction geek. If you've seen the new version before, you'll be amazed at how different the old version really is. In the old series, action, jokes, and flirting are much more common. The new version relies on political events and characters.Although this 1978 version of the film moves a little slowly in places, there are the fascinating space battles. The dialog between the characters and some of the comedy is a little dated, however. I would recommend it if you're a fan of this genre.

"There are those who believe, that life here began out there." These words marked the start of a new sci-fi show that featured robots, ships, bigger ships, planets, space and more robots. Yes, I remember when I got my first taste of Battlestar Galactica for the first time back in 1986 when it showed on BBC2 at 6pm. Aged only four, I knew this program would be in my life forever. My sister used to watch it just for Richard Hatch and still does! The Twelve colonies of Man have been fighting the Cylons for over a millenia. Finally having a choice for peace, the Humans take it, not knowing what lies around the corner. Only Adama's two sons, Zak and Apollo know of the empending doom from a routine recon patrol. Racing to get back to the Galactica, one of them gets blown to bits when a Cylon attack force races towards the fleet of Battlestars. If you've seen the series and the feature-lentgh movie, you know of the quality of the effects were, at that time, groundbreaking. Now, they're just pants. The actings good along with the plot. Its just those effects. That niggle aside, I still love watching both the series and the movie. Oh, don't bother watching the new one. It don't match up to the original. I mean...Starbucks..a..Woman!!